YOU TOO CAN ASSIST " ADAPTIVE / PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED SPORT"!!.....
THIS BLOG REMINISING ON PLACES AND PEOPLE VISITED OVER 19 YEARS OF PEDALING "PRO TOUR " RACE ROUTES". SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE VISIT .
Note that i ride alone and unassisted ! I represent NOBODY and my views in relation to " Para Sport " are personal BUT what others do is their OWN affair ! I encourage ALL to help their National Paralympic Org. assisting those living in their area with dreams of Sporting Achievement .

HELP ME TO SUPPORT THE PARALYMPIC ATHLETES

PARRABUDDY.BLOGSPOT was started to help find a way for “Adaptive / Physically Challenged / Paralympic Cyclists ” to enjoy riding their bikes on the Daily Route of the famous Pro Tour Race Routes such as the “ Giro d’Italia " and the " Tour de France " !

Through lack of support i have been unable to achieve that goal and unless people decide to assist there is little chance that my 19th season will be any more successful !

London 2012 Paralympics was amazing for ALL , not just those participating but those who followed via the Media !

Since 2009 several other Blogs have been created to cover various other subjects !

Below is a guide to their separate purposes :

In the main Parrabuddy is about “Adaptive / Physically Challenged Sport” and Health Issues.

Skippi-cyclist is about personal issues and Road Safety Issues.

SkippyAus is about matters relating to Oz and some personal memories from my life there.

Tourdafarce & Tourdafrance are about matters relating to the Pro Tour , Racers and some personal experiences during my various visits to ride the Pro Tour routes .

Skippy (blogging) is about a variety of issues on the Internet .

NOT ALL postings arrive in their correct area but I will generally try to separate my views on Doping and Sporting Fraud from Road Safety Issues .

Comments ARE WELCOMED since this shows that those reading are interested in the subject matter ! Enjoy comments made to other blogs so wonder why only " anonymous " posts here !

Over the period of these "Blogs" I have had visibility on Twitter as “Skippydetour” and on Facebook as “Skippy Mc Carthy” where Google usually advise postings on the Blogs as they occur .

When any of you visit these Blogs I hope I am able to add value to your day and provide a source of information if not inspiration . Please consider asking your friends and contacts to add their support as many of the Para Athletes are struggling to find the resources to compete in Events at regional Levels let alone National Levels .

You the reader have the possibility to help these Amazing Athletes in your own way and contacting your National Paralympic Internet Site for relevant info is a good start !

Dec 6, 2013

MADIBA MAGIC ! A World diminished ?

Nelson Mandela strode the World Stage , head and shoulders above ALL, because of his HUMILITY ! A Truly Inspirational Human Being , that no matter what i say , will encapsulate the effect , that he has had on so many lives ? Can anyone relate a story that does not pay tribute to his strength of Character ?

" Madiba is gone. A great and inspirational leader died at the age of 95 and it is not overdrawn to say: the world is crying and mourning."Inspirational comments attributed to him include :“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

Last night i was looking for news of the " Ashes ", that series of Cricket Games that at present , is being played out in Adelaide , between a sadly diminished English Team , as Holders of the " Urn " and the Aussie Team , who have regained the Ascendancy in this series . Today i see after several hours of no news , the Teams marking a period of Silence before commencing their game . The passing of Nelson Mandela , a true Cognisseur of Cricket was an International Moment . It will be a day that generations will look back on and remember , where they were , just as the passing of Jack Kennedy and the Landing on the Moon ?
Seeing tributes from World Leaders , interruption at the United Nations General Assembly Meetings and the scenes outside the Mandela Johannesberg Residence , fails to convey how impactful Nelson Mandela's personality has dominated the World since his release from Prison in 1990 .

Liks so many , i recall being outside the South African High Commission in Trafalgar Square in the mid 1960s , a time when " Anti Apartheid Demos " were an every weekend occurence . Doubt that i really knew who Nelson was or his fellow ANC Colleagues were , but i was there amongst the crowds , wishing that Sport was being interupted by the way a Government was treating it's Citizens ?

Whilst passing through South Africa in early 1970s , i saw plenty of evidence in Cape Town , Jo'berg and Durban , of how there were several different classes of Citizens . Toilets , Busses and Buildings displayed signage , advising how , where and what a HUMAN BEING , could exist in the Legal framework of the Community . In my early to mid 20s , i was seeing a little of the same , at home in Australia , but there , it was the Aboriginal Community being Ghettoed in Redfern and other pockets of Australia . Of course the World Community was rampant towards South Africa , because there was a Visible Public Policy , whilst in Oz , it was just neglect of a section of the community deserving of BETTER !

As yet , i have not seen mention of Gandhi , who was reputed to be an inspiration for a young Nelson Mandela ? It would inspire him to display a " Sense of Forgiveness " throughout his extraordinary life . This man deserves more recognition than that displayed in the Media . This tweet sums up my thoughts :

As a keen Cricket Enthusiast , Nelson Mandela's first comment to Malcolm Fraser was " Is Donald Bradman still alive "? A later visit was accompanied with an Autographed Cricket Bat inscribed by Sir Donald :

" His sense of humour was always near the surface. For some time before our visit he had had access to newspapers and magazines, but we were talking to a person who had essentially been cut off from the world for the best part of 27 years.
In winter it was bitterly cold. For warmth he had a blanket which, if you held it up to the light, you could see through. How could a man endure what he had endured without a sense of grievance or bitterness, without any sourness towards the world outside?
He befriended his jailers, who came to respect him greatly. He had a sense of charity to everyone. He did not harbour grudges about past injustices or wrongs, but was concerned only to find a way forward, how to build a better South Africa.
While he could speak openly about his personal views, there were limits to what he would or would not say. The Freedom Charter which had been negotiated in 1955 was out of date, almost archaic in some of its provisions. As we spoke to many people throughout South Africa and asked why it had not been kept up to date, made relevant to changing circumstances, the answer was always the same: how can we without Nelson Mandela?
When we asked Mandela what changes ought to be made, he said he could give only a personal view which might not be definitive because he would need to consult his colleagues. He had not had access to them in many a long year, but their views were very important to him. He had a very significant sense of due process and of respect for others.
At that first visit he knew that changes were afoot. His very removal from Robben Island to Pollsmoor indicated that the government wanted him to be in better circumstances. They knew that to find a settlement they would need Mandela.

It would have been so easy for somebody who had endured, as he had endured, to take the view that white South Africa should make restitution for the harm done for the past wrongs, for the great injustice inflicted upon the overwhelming majority.
To Mandela such views were looking backwards. The past had to be washed out of their hair. All South Africans had to look forward and they could only do that if they were to create a South Africa in which one law applied to all.
Was it realism that led him to this view, the knowledge of past mistakes? Or was it something innate, born in the very nature of the man that determined his attitude to other people? Perhaps both, but he knew what had to happen if South Africa was to find a way forward.
His sense of forgiveness and of justice was immense. His sense of equity was absolute. For Mandela politics was a matter of high principle and of steadfast purpose. He did not need polls or focus groups. He knew what was right, he knew what had to be done. If it was a difficult issue, if it needed persuasion, he would argue the harder, marshal his point of view and win the day.

On the steps of the Sydney Opera House

He knew government was about the exercise of judgment, but judgment based on a basic respect for people who would understand if a good argument was put to them.

When CARE Australia had three of its employees jailed during the war in Kosovo, Mandela was one of the first people to whom I appealed. Can you please lend your weight, your influence to assist in their release? He did not hesitate. I believe he knew what I stood for and the work CARE Australia was doing, and that was enough.
How does one judge his place in history? Of all the people I have met, he was by far the greatest. I do
On the steps of the Sydney Opera House not know anyone who could stand near to him. In the pages of history, there would be few who would stand as an equal.
Respect, concern, compassion a belief in the best of our natures as human beings was central to the way Mandela approached every problem. He was central to the process of change in South Africa. He unified the disparate groups within South Africa. Even the tribal leaders, such as Chief Buthelezi of the Zulus, followed Mandela. Black South Africa was able to establish a unified position in negotiations with the government.
President F.W. de Klerk had believed fervently in apartheid and sought to justify it on practical and philosophical grounds. It is a measure of de Klerk's practicality and acceptance of the need for change, but also of Mandela's greatness, that de Klerk came to believe that in a majority ruled South Africa there would be no retribution yet justice for all. Mandela was able to persuade de Klerk that white South Africans would have a legitimate place in the new South Africa. That was essential to the peaceful change that occurred.
Now South Africa grieves, as does the whole world. We need to remember his achievements and his essential character, which made those achievements possible. We can learn from his example. He leaves a legacy that all subsequent leaders should seek to emulate."

Malcolm Fraser was Prime Minister of Australia from 1975-1983 He is also a Member of the " Elders " , Co founded by Richard Bramson & Desmond Tutu !

A Tribute by a South African , modified to encapsulate the thoughts of so MANY WORLD CITIZENS !

" Nelson Mandela died on Thursday night at his Houghton home in Johannesburg at the age of 95

Madiba has taken his final bow. Celebrating the father of a beautiful nation

" What an honour to have lived and learned in your time, Madiba.

Thank you for your legacy.

Thank you for leaving your mark on the world.

May your spirit now soar in the heavens above, forever flying free.
Your long walk is finally over.

Watch over us your people, THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD , Madiba and may you continue to guide your beautiful country.

Your Country has lost a father of it's nation.

The world a mentor.

Thank you Madiba, for a journey well-travelled.

We salute you.

“The father of a nation has closed his eyes so that the rest of the world may open theirs.”

Nelson Mandela is in the thoughts of so many , so i have copied in Tweets from around the subject :

#NelsonMandela :

"Overcoming poverty is an act of justice. It's man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings"~#NelsonMandela

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it." RIP #NelsonMandela

"The time is always ripe to do right"

Thank you #NelsonMandela! An inspiration for us all! You will be missed. #RestInPeace

R.I.P to one of the greatest men in history a true revolutionary, inspiration and innovator #NelsonMandela

The world lost one of its greatest. Ever. #NelsonMandela is my endless inspiration. "It always seems impossible until it's done." Believe!

R.I.P Nelson Mandela you will truly be missed. You are an inspiration to us all #NelsonMandela

May the peace minister #NelsonMandela RIP as I'm sure the angels are dancing with joy tonight to get to hang with such a great man! Namaste

Jacob Zuma: As we grieve let us conduct ourselves with the dignity and respect that Mandiba personified. #NelsonMandela

A great human being and an inspiration to millions. With grace and magnanimity, he showed that with belief all is possible.
#NelsonMandela

“Who are you not to be great?” Or are we not even obliged to? #Madiba http://andreaicordes.wordpress.com/2013/12/06/who-are-you-not-to-be-great-or-are-we-not-even-obliged-to-madiba/ … @chiume @Twaweza_NiSisi

Up first, former President of Ireland Mary McAleese on her memories of #Madiba. Tweet your memories using #todaysor

Nelson Mandela. A human epitome of a TRUE FORGIVING HEART probably next after the forgiving Christ #MadibaYou want to come here and act as if #Madiba's sacrifice is "usual", like its something any1 can do! Act as if... http://fb.me/1a5vKOQhv

"It always seems impossible until it's done." - When I am with you I quote #Mandela” #Madiba

Hearing @JaneLinleyT crying on air. Shows the immense 'touch' that #Madiba has had on so many lives.

The long walk is over brave man. Time for you to take your rightful resting place among the great souls of the universe #Madiba

"@RvN1776: My dream was to play the World Cup in South Africa with these & meet him. It wasn't meant to be. #Madiba. pic.twitter.com/AoxtqusV6I"

'To be free is not merely to cast one's chains, but to live in a way that respects the freedom of others' pic.twitter.com/7EASE1fsE5 #Madiba

Fortunate to be in Africa with Africans to bid farewell to #Madiba. His resilient spirit will never leave Africa or the world he touched

you will always live in our hearts #Madiba words cant describe what you did #NelsonMandela you taught us forgiveness we will never forget

It's never too late to retrace ur steps, if you want to enjoy good times after death like Mandela, affect more than a continent #Madiba

Our country has lost a father of our nation. The world a mentor. Thank you #Madiba, for a journey well travelled.… http://wp.me/p2hvTt-1LY

#Mandela #Madiba for those who idolized the man pls grieve but don't judge those who feel no compassion towards him. Freedom of choice!!

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